


When the Penny Drops

by edelweissroses



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: ...for now, 2017 Pennywise, Drabble, Emotions ? ? ?, Gen, Good Pennywise (IT), Reformed Pennywise, Return of the Trope : Meaningful Conversations in a Bathtub, The Losers Adopt Pennywise and Beat Him Over the Head with Feelings, What is this ? ? ?, thanks i hate it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 06:34:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20559827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edelweissroses/pseuds/edelweissroses
Summary: "They had returned seven— eight years too soon.Them.The Losers.All Grown-Up.They had come without weapons. They had come with arms wide open. They had come without fear.And it was either curiosity or some lingering sense of survival that had made him inch closer towards them. What he couldn’t understand, though, was why Bill had offered him his hand. Even more confusing… was why Pennywise had accepted it.He looked down at his hands in present time. Claws hidden behind white gloves, flexing open and shut. He flipped them over, palm-side up, and sniffed the ruffles cinching his wrists. They hadn’t smelled like blood in a long, long time.But was that… a… good… thing?"





	When the Penny Drops

Pennywise curled up in the bathtub.

He liked the closed quarters, the shutting of the curtains, and the _ drip-drip-dripp_ing of the leaky faucet. He liked the claustrophobia. He liked watching the water swirling around the drain, thinking and considering, before plunging down the rusted pipes and broken plumbing into depths unknown. He liked being close to the sewers. 

He hadn’t been down there in months; but, he liked knowing that he could escape to his old stomping grounds whenever he desired.

The most puzzling thing about it though… was that he _ didn’t. _

It was September 15th when they had returned.

Them.

The Losers.

All Grown-Up.

Pennywise had still been sleeping, still recovering from the last time they had battled. They had returned seven— _ eight _ years too soon. 

He’d snarled and hissed. He’d tried everything that he could think of, and everything that the _ Losers _ could think of, to scare them off for another decade or so when he’d be more powerful and at his peak.

But Richie, wedding band glinting in the deadlights, had just taken Eddie’s hand in his and told him to_ calm the fuck down. _

It was then that Pennywise had noticed that they had come without weapons. They had come with arms wide open. They had come without fear.

And it was either curiosity or some lingering sense of survival that had made him inch closer towards them. What he couldn’t understand, though, was why Bill had offered him his hand. Even more confusing… was why Pennywise had accepted it.

He looked down at his hands in present time. Claws hidden behind white gloves, flexing open and shut. He flipped them over, palm-side up, and sniffed the ruffles cinching his wrists. They hadn’t smelled like blood in a long, _ long _ time.

But was that… a… good… thing?

Pennywise growled and shoved his hands into his hair, scraping and pulling until his claws, now unsheathed, ripped through his costume. He bucked and contorted, tearing off his own scalp. 

He raised the yummy, _ yummy _ flesh to his mouth. His jaw unhinged. His teeth extended—

But he didn’t smell appetizing at all.

Despite how _ afraid _ he was.

With an aggravated shout, Pennywise threw his scalp to the ground. Blood dribbled down his forehead and stopped at his cheek where he lapped it up with a quick dart of his tongue.

His skin healed within a matter of seconds.

Nothing tasted the same anymore.

Nothing smelled the same anymore.

He wasn’t the same anymore.

A knock sounded through the bathroom. He regretted not having locked the door. 

“...Pennywise?”

Beverly.

“Get out,” he snarled, burying his face between his knees. He’d come in here to _ hide _ , not to _ talk _.

“I’m not even in there.”

There was a smile in her voice. 

“Then stay out.”

A pause.

“...Are you alright?”

The smile was gone. 

And there was that sweet-smelling scent that the Losers had brought with them, the one that had made fear smell most foul. The scent that had started this—this—this _ tantrum _ in the first place. 

Pennywise snapped at the door, extending his illusions and magic to transform it into a demonic beast to get the Loser to run away and leave him be.

Instead, it only seemed to summon all of them together.

Why did he keep failing?

He wanted everything to be like how it was before. He wanted everything to go back to what he was used to, to what he recognized and what he understood. He had spent thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years like this: of sleeping and hunting and feasting on fear. 

But he was awake, no one was afraid, and he wasn’t alone.

The bathroom door clicked open.

“Oh gross,” Eddie gagged, accidentally stepping on his discarded scalp.

Pennywise almost giggled.

The Losers drew closer.

They hesitated when they reached the bathtub, talking amongst themselves, until Mike reached around and pulled the shower curtain open.

But there was nothing behind it to scare them.

Just Pennywise curled up in the empty bathtub with his head between his legs. 

It was Bill, their unofficial leader, who leaned down first.

“...Pennywise?”

He growled, low and deep in his throat.

“Give him some—some—some room.”

Eyes appeared around Pennywise’s scalp, not willing to move but still wanting to see.

“Hey there, b-b-buddy,” Bill smiled, “You doing okay-okay-okay in there?”

Pennywise cracked.

He howled and snorted and _laughed_. 

Pennywise rose. Spines sprouted from his back. His limbs extended and multiplied and grew little barbed hooks that might have been venomous, might have been not. His bones snapped. His jaw unhinged. 

He grabbed the porcelain rim of the bathtub and leaned over, rows of teeth to nose with Bill.

“Why…” drool dribbled onto the tile floor, “Why are you being_ so nice _ to me?”

Bill stumbled backwards.

Stan grabbed his shoulders, keeping him upright.

“W-W-What do you—you—you mean?”

The tub shattered.

“I killed your brother,” Pennywise lurched forward and grinned as the Losers flinched backwards, “I gorged myself on his fear. I savored it. I enjoyed it. I made him suffer for _ so… so long _.”

His eyes crossed.

“I’ve hurt you. I’ve craved you,” he stepped closer and closer, “I wanted to feast on your fear until you were but a shell.”

“...wanted?” Ben repeated, voice barely above a whisper.

But Pennywise heard it. Everyone did.

He froze.

“Everything is wrong,” a snarl ripped from the bottom of his throat, “Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. _ Wrong_.”

His limbs pulled back into his body. 

“I haven’t eaten but I feel so full.”

The spines retracted back into his skin.

“Nothing smells the same. Fear isn’t appetizing anymore.”

His jaw snapped shut.

He felt so… small.

“...Why?” Pennywise flopped onto the floor, pouting, “Why are you being so nice to me? Why? Why? Why?”

His gaze dropped.

“I could hurt you.”

“You haven’t though,” Beverly said quietly.

“_ But I could._”

“But you won’t. Because you’re a loser, Pennywise,” Bill leaned forward and pulled him into his arms, “And us losers stick together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings, my loveliest lovelies and darling-iest darlings ! ! ! 
> 
> My Fanfiction journey has come full circle, y'all. Over a decade of writing and experience has finally brought me back to where it all started : lil' goth 12-year-old me writing about semi-reformed!slasher / horror villains. Goth!Frankie would be so pleased lol.
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed reading this, my lovelies, as much as I enjoyed writing it ! Please leave your comments and critiques below and tune in for more reformed!Pennywise and the Loser Kids shenanigans.


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